Florida Birding
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TitusvileSurfer
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In this entire last series I was Aperture priority with -1/3 exposure compensation. The light was changing waaay to fast to keep up with in Manual. My shutter speed sometimes went from 1/320 to 1/1600 to 1/4000 while tracking the same bird on its flight path. Both of the first two sets were completely full manual mode with one acceptation. The eagle shots were both aperture priority. I was shooting a flower in manual mode, and those settings would have been no good for a bird, so when the eagle took me by surprise I quickly switched to Av and took whatever it gave me. There was less than 5 seconds between the time I first saw the bird and its disappearance, leaving no time to set my exposure perfect. I just switched to Av and hoped I was using a fast aperture last time. Luckily it was set fairly fast (like f/3.5), so I got some decent shutter speed out of it. The flower was at like f/11. The first two series don't have EXIF because I Unsharp Masked them in Photoshop, but I could post thumbnail size versions with it if you want to check the settings.
At the very beginning of today I was in full manual. Standing in one place, the first bird would be perfectly exposed. Unless I changed the settings, the next frame might be entirely black with no detail. If I pointed the camera the other direction, the camera would be totally white with no detail. Eventually I said "screw it" and just set Av.
At the very beginning of today I was in full manual. Standing in one place, the first bird would be perfectly exposed. Unless I changed the settings, the next frame might be entirely black with no detail. If I pointed the camera the other direction, the camera would be totally white with no detail. Eventually I said "screw it" and just set Av.
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Reef Bass
colors and textures
As much as I like Av mode, for more action oriented shots, I wonder if Tv wouldn't be better? Set your shutter speed and let the camera determine aperature.
Did you do the consecutive shot thing with the flight shots? You know, click the shutter and 2-5 shots are taken in rapid succession?
I like the spoonbills in flight and about to land. Good color on them. The wood stork doing the funky chicken is great. I get more of a tern vibe from the last bird though I can see why you'd think shrike.
Did you do the consecutive shot thing with the flight shots? You know, click the shutter and 2-5 shots are taken in rapid succession?
I like the spoonbills in flight and about to land. Good color on them. The wood stork doing the funky chicken is great. I get more of a tern vibe from the last bird though I can see why you'd think shrike.
TitusvileSurfer
New member
In Av (aperture priority) and Tv (shutter priority), you set the ISO to whatever you want. ISO is a separate setting.
In Tv the camera's meeter looks at your selected ISO speed and selected Shutter Speed. It will then pick an aperture value depending on how much light you have to work with.
In Av the camera's meeter does just the opposite. It looks at your selected ISO speed and selected Aperture. The meter will then pick a shutter speed for you which should deliver a proper exposure. While I can almost always figure out a perfect exposure for a specific situation in Manual mode (where you pick all values), rapidly changing light with little time to dilly dally on picking exposure settings makes this difficult at best. The bird is only going to pose in a position once and if your not ready when it does, you miss the shot. So I selected Av mode *at -1/3 exposure compensation*. This means that the camera figures out the proper shutter speed on its own, but then I tell it to back off 1/3 stop whatever is decided. This (usually) ensures all of the feathers are not blown out.
Again the first two days I used all manual mode all the time. The lighting was relatively consistent and I could easily predict (in my mind) the perfect exposure. Of course what really is or isn't a perfect exposure is up to the artist. This morning the light was changing very rapidly. A proper exposure on a bird might vary 6 stops or more within 6 seconds. So I opted for Av mode instead.
TitusvileSurfer
New member
I vary, vary rarely use Tv. If I want a specific shutter speed I will just use manual. If I want a very high shutter speed, Av works just fine. If I pick Av f/2.8, the camera automatically picks the highest shutter speed possible. I think I backed of between f/3.5-f/5.6 for the 3rd day shots above. f/2.8 would have given me enough DOF, but any lens works better stopped down as opposed to wide open. My 70-200 f/2.8 IS is very sharp at f/2.8. It is very, very, very, super sharp at f/5.6.
So, I will decide a minimum acceptable shutter speed (i.e. 1/320 @ 200mm). I then take a meter reading off of the worst case scenario lighting situation. Lets say I get 1/320 @ f/4. I set the camera to Av, f/4 and concentrate on the subjects. I know that even in the darkest shadows, I should get a shutter speed of at least 1/320. If I hit 1/8000 in the brightest area, then the more shutter speed the merrier. I have no objection to gaining excess shutter speed in this situation. My worry is having too little.
Sometimes. Today I was really going for in flight shots. I would say 1/4 were taken at 6.5fps and 3/4 were taken one shot at a time. I was really trying for the perfect pose. If I shoot at 6.5fps I may get the split second before and after that shot. The first two days I used rapid shooting much more than this morning.
Thanks for the compliments and heads up on the tern. You sure know your birds and have been a great identification resource for me! =) Thank you, thank you, thank you.
I am trying to sort every animal I get by Taxonomy. Besides obviously having my photographs rigorously organized, this will in theory help me memorize every individual species by sight. This way I can say, "Yeah I really have enough of these already and should look for something else". Plus I can hold an intelligent conversation with the hard core birders out there who don't even have cameras. All they bring is a telescope and a checklist!
Oh oh oh oh for my Canon guys you won't BELIEVE what I saw on the refuge 2 weeks ago. A 1200mm f/5.6 :eek1:!
TitusvileSurfer
New member
Thanks for the kudos! Having seen your excellent wildlife work it means a lot. All of these images were taken in the morning. I get to the swamp about half an hour before sun rise and am done and on my way home around 9:00 AM with a full CF card. There is a sunrise shot from each of the three days to prove it!
I am getting very close. Someday I'll have a 500mm, but I'm a college kid without an income so that will be much later. Zooming with my feet has been a lot of perilous fun. I've stepped on a rattle snake, waded across waste deep canals chalk full of alligators, stepped in quick sand, and had a run in with a wild boar in the name of getting my 200mm lens close enough to these birds. The thrill and adventure has been worth every second!
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TitusvileSurfer
New member
Nope, no telecoverters. Just the camera and lens. The camera itself of course gives a 1.6x crop factor so compared to standard 35mm I guess I'm shooting at 320mm.
TitusvileSurfer
New member
I wish I had a longer lens so I get get the small birds that I do have somewhere to go to see 
There are a tone and a half of sparrows and hummingbirds and all sorts of neat things that I just can't get close enough to.
There are a tone and a half of sparrows and hummingbirds and all sorts of neat things that I just can't get close enough to.
TitusvileSurfer
New member
Its a 70-200. If I get a 400mm or a 500mm I'll get a TC. Until then I'll just get close. I have used 1.4x and 2x TC's on a 300mm f/2.8L IS. I think they both preformed very well. I don't see what all the hype about the 2x TC ruining sharpness is all about. Of course it was attached to a 300mm f/2.8 which probably had a whole lot to do with the stellar performance.
If I ever get my hands on a 500mm f/4, I think a 1.4x TC would suit me just fine. With the 200mm, I would still have to get pretty dang close, so I might as well get a tick closer. As it stands I feel pretty comfortable cropping. Many of the shots in this thread are heavy crops. This one for example is exactly 100%. I still haven't figured out what species this Tern is and it is driving me nuts.
Common Tern? Royal Tern? Roseate Tern? I know of 44 to choose from and only one is correct. Gahhhh. This one is a challenge for sure. Special thanks to ReefBass for getting me on the right track though! I'll figure it out eventually.
All it needs is a little gaussian blur in the sky and I'm set.
If I ever get my hands on a 500mm f/4, I think a 1.4x TC would suit me just fine. With the 200mm, I would still have to get pretty dang close, so I might as well get a tick closer. As it stands I feel pretty comfortable cropping. Many of the shots in this thread are heavy crops. This one for example is exactly 100%. I still haven't figured out what species this Tern is and it is driving me nuts.
Common Tern? Royal Tern? Roseate Tern? I know of 44 to choose from and only one is correct. Gahhhh. This one is a challenge for sure. Special thanks to ReefBass for getting me on the right track though! I'll figure it out eventually.
All it needs is a little gaussian blur in the sky and I'm set.
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Reef Bass
colors and textures
The point of view on the tern renders the wings and tail as thin smooth curves that are just beautiful and create for me a sense of lightness. The lack of reference works well. While it might sound strange coming from me as I tend to crop pretty tight, to enhance the sense of space I might have left a little larger margin around the wing and tail tips. To me, this shot could work as two colors with the entire sky being one and the entire bird shape being the other. I love the multi color version but reducing the shot to 2 colors would get at the essence of bird and flight.
With a shot like that, id'ing the specie of tern should be easy! I'd help you out with that but I just packed up all my books a couple days ago in order to facilitate moving the bookcase sitting on the carpet that got replaced.
I hear your points about Tv mode and multi-fps shooting.
Organizing your shots taxonomically is a good idea. It also makes one aware of relationships between critter types that may not be apparent merely by looking at their outsides.
Dude! 1200mm f5.6!?!?! Don't tell me it was an L lens too! Does it come with it's own steadycam trolley? Must weigh a ton. Was it mounted to the roof of an SUV with the photographer standing out of the sunroof???
With a shot like that, id'ing the specie of tern should be easy! I'd help you out with that but I just packed up all my books a couple days ago in order to facilitate moving the bookcase sitting on the carpet that got replaced.
I hear your points about Tv mode and multi-fps shooting.
Organizing your shots taxonomically is a good idea. It also makes one aware of relationships between critter types that may not be apparent merely by looking at their outsides.
Dude! 1200mm f5.6!?!?! Don't tell me it was an L lens too! Does it come with it's own steadycam trolley? Must weigh a ton. Was it mounted to the roof of an SUV with the photographer standing out of the sunroof???
TitusvileSurfer
New member
Could it be a junivial royal tern? My bird has black on the beak and no cap.
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